Card guide for front-feed device in accounting machine or the like

ABSTRACT

A card guide for accounting machine front-feed devices includes two symmetric hopper elements slidably mounted on a supporting bar for adjusting the distance between them in order to accomodate different types of accounting cards and forms. The hoppers are secured to the supporting bar by a lever-operated pair of shoes being commonly pivoted and located at the edge portions of the hoppers for improving mechanical rigidity. Each hopper is further provided with actuable gripper means for firmly retaining cards in the hopper during printing and releasing the cards for permitting replacement. The main shaft of the accounting machine automatically governs the cyclic operation of the gripper means through a linkage.

United States Patent 11 1 Musso 1 ,July 30, 1974 [5 CARD GUIDE FOR FRONT-FEED DEVICE 2,650,688 9/1353 Anderson 197/127 R I R T E I E 2,832,454 4/1 58 Martin 197/127 R IN ACCOUNTING MACH NE 0 H L K 3,211,270 10/1965 Templeton 197/127 R [75] Inventor: Piero Musso, Ivrea (Tunn), Italy FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLI ATIONS [73] Assignee: lng. Co. Olivetti & Co., S.p.A., lvrea C (Turinxltaly 767,906 10/1954 Germany 197/128 [22] Filed: May 1972 Primary ExaminerErnest T. Wright, Jr. [21] Appl. N0.: 251,991 Attorney, Agent, or Firm --lra J. Schaefer [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT May 12, 1971 Italy...' A card guide for accounting machine fronbfeed devices includes two symmetric hopper elements slidably U-S. R mounted on a upporting bar for adjusting the dis. [5 tance betweenthem in rder to accomodate different Field of Search 197/127, 127 128, types of accounting cards and forms. The hoppers are 197/135 A, 136, 139, 140, 141, 142, secured to the supporting bar by a lever-operated pair D 9 of shoes being commonly pivoted and located at the edge portions of the hoppers for improving mechanil References Clted cal rigidity. Each hopper is further provided with actu- UNITED STATES PATENTS able gripper means for firmly retaining cards in the 1,468,640 9/1923 Kurowski 197/127 A pp during Primingand releasing the Cards for P 1,682,765 9/1928 Muller 197/127 A mitting replacement. The main shaft of the accounting 1,876,228 9/1932 Hclmond 197/127 R machine automatically governs the cyclic operation of 1,918.30] 7/1933 Trego 197/127 R the gripper means through a linkage! 2,107,397 2/1938 Smith 197/127 R 2,174,357 9/1939 Anderson 197/128 5 Claims, 5 Dravving Figures PAIENTEB JUL 3 01874 I SHEET 2 [IF 3 PATENTEDJUL30I874 3 26.346 SHEEI 30F 3 1 CARD GUIDE FOR FRONT-FEED DEVICE IN ACCOUNTING MACHINE OR THE LIKE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION:

Applicant claims'priority from corresponding Italian patent application Ser. No. 68568-A/71, filed May 12,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION nisms are secured to a fixed slider bar by means of a spring urged contact member parallel to the surface of the bar.

This manner of securing'the guides often results in insufficient mechanical rigidity between the slider bar and card guide.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The disadvantages of known devices are overcome in the hopper-type card guide for a front-feed device in accounting machines according to the invention, which is characterized in that each of the hopper elements is fixed to the supporting bar by means of a pair of members pivoted on a common axis and having contact surfaces with the bat. The contact surfaces, upon engaging said bar, being inclined and diverging towards the side opposite the common axis, the pair of pivoted members being movable simultaneously by means of a lever located on the internal side of the respective hopper elements.

According to another feature of the invention, each hopper element is provided with independent, resilient gripping means for retaining forms or cards, the gripping means being arranged above the line of writing of the associated accounting machine and being controlled by a member governed by the main shaft of the machine.

These and other features of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment, which is intended to be exemplary only, and accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a partial front view of a front-feed device for DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The card guide embodying the invention is intended to be associated with a front-feed device for cards included in an accounting machine and comprises at least one pair of hopper elements l0, 11 (FIG. 1) which are symmetric and independently movable. Elements and 11 are slidably mounted on a transverse bar 12 suitably formed and mounted above the conventional platen 13 of the associated accounting machine. The slider bar 12 is substantially equal to the length of platen l3 and is fixed at the ends to two chassis supports of the accounting machine. Platen 13 is longitudinally fixed in position and printing is achieved by means of a printing head 14 (FIG. 2) which is movable along the platen 13 in correspondence to the columnar positions which are to be printed on the card or form 15 disposed about "the platen l3.

Each hopper element 10, 11 is mounted on the slider bar 12 in a substantially vertical position thereby defining a downwardly directed chute for one or more cards 15 to be fed therein, either overlapping or side by side, for subsequent printing operations thereon in accordance with the operation of the associated accounting machine. Cards 15 are fed into hopper elements 10, 11, between the platen 13 (FIG. 2) and printing head 14, under a series of pressure rollers 16 fastened to pressure fingers l7.

Each element 10, 1l.(FIG. 3) includes an upstanding wall 18, the top portion of which is bent over to form an inverted U and formed together with a perpendicular side wall 19 which provides a boundary for the edge of an introduced card 15. The side wall 19 is joined to a front wall portion 20 parallel to wall l8,and also extends rearwardly closing off one side of the U-shaped area thereby defining a pocket 21. The pocket 21 is designed to house the'fastening mechanism 22 (FIGS. 3-4) for securing the hopper elements 10, 11 to the slider bar 12. The fastening mechanism 22 is mounted on a U- shaped metal frame 23 inserted in the pocket 21 of hopper element 10, 11. The frame 23 (FIG. 4) issecured to side wall 19- by suitable fasteners such as screws 24, 25 inserted through holes 26, 27 in .wall 19 and matching threaded'holes 28, 29 of frame 23, respectively.

Fastening mechanism 22 includes a manual actuating key or operating lever 30 located on the internal side of each'hopper element 10, 11 and rotatable about a pivot 31 fixed'to frame 23. The lever 30 includes an arm 32 which is normally pressing against a stop pin 33 fixed to the frame 23 by the action of a tension spring 34, one end of which is attached to arm 32, itself, and the other end fixed to the frame 23 by means of pin 35. The lever 30 has a projection 36 which is connected to a rod 37 by means of a pin 38. The rod 37 is provided at its other end with a slot 39 for slidably engaging a stud 40 fastened to arm 41 of an intermediate lever 42 which is in such manner connected to theactuating key 30 through a sliding link. Lever 42 is pivoted on a pin 43 fixed to frame 23 and includes a further arm 44 engageable with a stud' 45. The stud 45 is secured to an arm 46 of another intermediate lever 47 pivoted at pivot 31. Each of the two levers 42 and 47 include, respectively, downwardly-extending arms 48, 49, each furnished .with studs 50, 51. Two crank elements or contact lever 54, have respective open, inclined 3 slots52, 53 for engaging studs 50, 51. The crank elements 54, 55 are rotatable about a common pivot 56 for the purpose of securing the hopper-elements 10, 11 to theslider bar 12.

, An extension spring 57, stretched between arm 58 of lever 42 and arm 590i lever 47, urges the two lever arms 58, 59 toward each other and thus moves studs 50, 5l away from each other. The movement of studs 50, 51. away from each other results in a camming action with crank elements 54, 55 due to the inclination of slots 52, 53 which causes the crank elements 54, 55 to move downward into contact with slider bar 12.

Thej crank elements 54, 55 are provided with contact surfaces or shoes 60, 61 which are formed in section for mating closely with one profile 100 on the upper portion of slider bar 12.

Moreover, shoes 60, 61 are inclined with respect to the horizontal upper edge of slider bar 12 when in en- 1 gagement therewith so that the outermost-portions of the shoes 60, 61 are at the lowest point with respect to the common pivot 56 as is best seen in FIG. 4.

The hubs of crank elements 54, 55 formed around pivot 56serve to limit the clockwise movement of arm 32 of theoperating lever 30.

Eachhopper element 10, 11 is also coupled to an other .profile 101 on the lower portion of slider bar 12 (FIG. 3 by respective fingers 62, 63 secured to the lower portion-of wall 18.

Placement of the hopper elements 10, 11 along slider bar 12 is achieved by pressing against the upper part of Operating lever 30, thus pivoting this lever 307 around the pivot 31 against the action of spring 34 and pushing the rod 37 rightward in FIG. 4. When the left edge of slot 39 contacts stud 40,'the lever 42 rotates in a clockwise direction. The' arm 44 of lever 42 then engages stud.45 of arm 46 causing lever47 to pivot counter clockwise, that is, opposite to the motion of lever 42. Similarly, arms 48 and 49 move in opposite directions, toward each other. The two studs 50, 51 cooperating with the respective inclined slots 52, 53, lift the crank elements-54, '55 around pivot 56 in an upward direction and thus disengage the shoes ,60, 61 from the profile 100 of the upper portion of slider bar 12. The hopper elements 10, 11 can thus be moved to any position along the sliderbar 12,.the fingers 62, 63 serving to guide the elements 10, l 1 along theloweredge of the bar 12. I

If desired, the hopperelements 10, 11 can be removedfrom the slider bar 12 by'pressing the lever fully and pushing thetop portion backwards so that fingers 62, 63 unhook from-the profile 101 of the lower portion of the slider bar 12 as can be readily visualized from FIG. 3.

Once the lever 30 is released, the spring 34 urges the arm' 32 of lever 30 against stud 33 while spring 57, stretched between lever arms 58 and-59, causes levers 42 and 47 to rotate towards each other drawing studs 50, 51 away from pivot 56. The camming action of studs 50, 51 and slots 52, 53 brings crank elements 54, 55 to the downward position causing shoes 60, 61 to engageslider bar 12 and holding the hopper elements 10, 11 in a fixed position. It can be seen that the farthest'portions'of crank elements 54, 55, with respect to pivot 56 engage the slider bar l2-thus offering a high degree of mechanical rigidity when the hopper ele ments 10,11 are fixed. in position.

retaining member 66 is pivotable about a rod 67 secured between walls 19 and and extending longituv dinally along the plate 66. The bottom portion of plate 66 may be bent towards the rear of the hopper 10,11 (FIG. 3) thereby forming a tongue 68 provided with a tab 69 at one extreme end. The tab 69 is adapted to cooperate with a flap 70 having a finger-shaped cross section fixed to a shaft 71 rotatably secured to the chassis of the associated accounting machine. Plate 66 also includes at the lower end thereof a member 72(F1G. 4) on which is mounted an elastomeric pressure pad 73. A compression spring 74 (H6. 3) disposed between wall 20 and plate 66 and guided by an inserted guide pin 75 fixed to the latter normally urges the pad 73 against wall 18. c l

The flap 70 is joined to a L-shaped lever 76 (FIG. 2 which also is fixed to'shaft 71. Lever 76 is provided with a stud 77 at its lower branch which normally presses against a foot 79 at one end of a slider link or common releasing member 80 by the action of an extension spring 78 fixed to the other branch of the lever 76. The slider link 80 is movable longitudinally and includes two cutout slots 81, 82 in which are inserted two fixed studs 83, 84, respectively, for the purpose of limiting the amount of movement particularly in the longitudinal direction. The other end of slider link 80 is mounted with a pin 85 adapted to cooperate with a cam slot 86 of a lever 87, pivotable at 88.

The lever 87 is coupled through a rod 89 to a lever 90 pivoted at 91. A stud 92 fixedto lever 90 presses against a cam 94 fixed to a rotatable shaft 95 by the action of an extension spring 93 fixed to rod 89. The shaft 95 oscillates the cam 94, first through an angle of in one direction and'then through the same angle in the opposite direction, in a well-known manner.

In the rest position, slider link 80 shifts flap'70 to the right, in the-positionseen in FIG. 2, also maintaining the pressure pad 73 out of contact with wall 18. The

hopper elements l0, 11 are thus opened for admitting accounting cards 15. a v

After the accounting cards 15 have been introduced by the operator into the hopper elements 10, 11, the

main shaft 95 is activated in the course of the established operating routine of the accounting machine. As main shaft 95 rotates through 180, cam 94-pushes lever 90 in a clockwise direction and by means of rod 89 causes lever 87 to rotate counterclockwise. The

slotted cam 86 cooperates with pin 85 bringing slider link 80 'to'the left and causing lever 76 and flap 70 to turn clockwise by the action of spring 78. The flap 70 then becomes disengaged from tab 69 of the tongue 68, as the latter is drawn leftward. As a result, the spring 74 pushes the pressure pad 73 against wall 18 thus retaining the accounting card 15 within each of the hopper elements 10, 11. I

Accordingly, either a single accounting card 15 or a pair of cards 15,,inserted side by side, may be inserted into the hopper elements 10, 11 and securely retained in position for processing.

After processing the cards 15 may be removed from the hopper elements 10, 11 by causing the shaft 95 to undergo a l80 turn in the opposite direction, bringing the various linkages to the position shown in FIG. 2. The cam 94 allows spring 93 to cause reversal of the above-described motions of levers 87 and 90 and rod 89. Thus slider link 80 is moved to the right engaging stud 77 of lever 76 and, counteracting the force of spring 78, moves lever 76 and flap 70 counterclockwise. Tab 69 is reengaged by the finger-shaped end of flap 70 and tongue 68 is brought to the right against spring 74 releasing the pressure pads 73 from card 15 and wall 18. The card 15 may then be manually extracted and replaced by another card 15 and the sequence of operation repeated.

Accordingly, the card guiding hopper element (FIG. 1 is adapted to cooperate with a symmetrical second hopper element 11 to facilitate the insertion of accounting forms and cards 15 in a front-feed device for accounting machines.

It is to be understood that the inventive hopper element card guide herein described may be changed or modified without departing from the scope of the invention which is to be measured solely from the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A card guide for a front feed device associated with an accounting machine or the like having a pair of symmetrical hopper elements slidably and removably mounted on a supporting bar of said front feed device by engaging two opposite sides of said supporting bar, each of said hopper elements having fixed contact elements engaging one of said opposite sides, wherein each of said hopper elements comprises pivot means mounted perpendicular to said supporting bar;

first and second contact levers supported by said pivot means, said first and said second contact levers being longitudinally located adjacent to the other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar and extending in opposite directions from said pivot means as to form anobtuse angle when engaged with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar for correctly aligning and rigidly fixing said hopper elements to said supporting bar; spring means operatively connected with said first and second contact levers for jointly urging said first and said second contact levers into engagement with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar; and s a manual actuating key connected with said first and second contact levers and operable to enlarge said obtuse angle for disengaging said first and second contact levers from said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar by overcoming the action of said spring means for causing a quick release of said hopper elements. from said supporting bar. 2. A card guide as set forth in claim 7, wherein said first and second contact levers each include an inclined slot and wherein said hopper elements further comprise intermediate means operatively connecting said first and second contact levers with said manual actuating key, said intermediate means including a pair of studs cooperating each one with said slots for controlling the movement of said first and second contact levers by camming action between said studs and said slots.

3. A card guide as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pivot means comprise a common pivot carrying said first and said second contact levers and said intermediate means include two rotatably mounted intermediate levers, each one of said studs being affixed to each of said intermediate levers and said spring means being connected between said intermediate levers for moving said studs in opposite directions for driving said first and second contact levers into and out of contact with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar; said intermediate means further comprising a first arm on one of said intermediate levers, a'second arm on the other of said intermediate levers, said first arm engaging said second arm for driving said other of said intermediate levers in one direction, said one of said intermediate levers being coupled to said manual actuating key through a sliding link, said studs being urged in one sense by the action of said spring means and moved in the other sense by the action of said first arm on said second arm when said manual actuating keyis pushed.

4. A card guide as set forth in claim 7, wherein each of said hopper elements further comprise a pair of walls for guiding a form to be inserted, and a retaining member for retaining said form when inserted against one of said walls during processing thereof 'by'the accounting machine, further including a common releasing member for said retaining members, each of said retaining members'being selectively operable by said common releasing member to release an inserted form for subse-. quent replacement in accordance with the operating cycle of the accounting machine, each of said retaining members being pivotally supported by the corresponding one of said hopper elements, each of said hopper elements including a spring for individually urging said retaining members toward said one wall for holding said inserted form against said one wall with a substantially equal force even if said form has a different thickness at each of said hopperelements.

5. Acard guide as set forth in claim 10, wherein said retaining member includes another of said walls, said other wall being rotatable between a first position for retaining said inserted form against said one wall and a second position for releasing said form from said one wall, said other wall including a form-pressing pad, a first portion-for supporting said form-pressing pad for gripping said form in said first position, and a second portion for engaging said releasing member, said releasing member being governed by a driving shaft of said accounting machine for rotating said other wall to said second position. 

1. A card guide for a front feed device associated with an accounting machine or the like having a pair of symmetrical hopper elements slidably and removably mounted on a supporting bar of said front feed device by engaging twO opposite sides of said supporting bar, each of said hopper elements having fixed contact elements engaging one of said opposite sides, wherein each of said hopper elements comprises pivot means mounted perpendicular to said supporting bar; first and second contact levers supported by said pivot means, said first and said second contact levers being longitudinally located adjacent to the other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar and extending in opposite directions from said pivot means as to form an obtuse angle when engaged with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar for correctly aligning and rigidly fixing said hopper elements to said supporting bar; spring means operatively connected with said first and second contact levers for jointly urging said first and said second contact levers into engagement with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar; and a manual actuating key connected with said first and second contact levers and operable to enlarge said obtuse angle for disengaging said first and second contact levers from said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar by overcoming the action of said spring means for causing a quick release of said hopper elements from said supporting bar.
 2. A card guide as set forth in claim 7, wherein said first and second contact levers each include an inclined slot and wherein said hopper elements further comprise intermediate means operatively connecting said first and second contact levers with said manual actuating key, said intermediate means including a pair of studs cooperating each one with said slots for controlling the movement of said first and second contact levers by camming action between said studs and said slots.
 3. A card guide as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pivot means comprise a common pivot carrying said first and said second contact levers and said intermediate means include two rotatably mounted intermediate levers, each one of said studs being affixed to each of said intermediate levers and said spring means being connected between said intermediate levers for moving said studs in opposite directions for driving said first and second contact levers into and out of contact with said other of said opposite sides of said supporting bar; said intermediate means further comprising a first arm on one of said intermediate levers, a second arm on the other of said intermediate levers, said first arm engaging said second arm for driving said other of said intermediate levers in one direction, said one of said intermediate levers being coupled to said manual actuating key through a sliding link, said studs being urged in one sense by the action of said spring means and moved in the other sense by the action of said first arm on said second arm when said manual actuating key is pushed.
 4. A card guide as set forth in claim 7, wherein each of said hopper elements further comprise a pair of walls for guiding a form to be inserted, and a retaining member for retaining said form when inserted against one of said walls during processing thereof by the accounting machine, further including a common releasing member for said retaining members, each of said retaining members being selectively operable by said common releasing member to release an inserted form for subsequent replacement in accordance with the operating cycle of the accounting machine, each of said retaining members being pivotally supported by the corresponding one of said hopper elements, each of said hopper elements including a spring for individually urging said retaining members toward said one wall for holding said inserted form against said one wall with a substantially equal force even if said form has a different thickness at each of said hopper elements.
 5. A card guide as set forth in claim 10, wherein said retaining member includes another of said walls, said other wall being rotatable between a first position for retaining said inserted form against said one wall anD a second position for releasing said form from said one wall, said other wall including a form-pressing pad, a first portion for supporting said form-pressing pad for gripping said form in said first position, and a second portion for engaging said releasing member, said releasing member being governed by a driving shaft of said accounting machine for rotating said other wall to said second position. 